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Washington, DC - Today, hundreds of members of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) across the country and other community groups sent a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson and Ranking Member Mike Crapo outlining their concerns with the access provisions in the Johnson-Crapo housing finance reform legislation. The letter, which was signed by over 300 groups, calls on legislators to ensure that reforms to the housing finance system support access to mortgage credit for all creditworthy borrowers, and affordable rental housing. The legislation is slated to be marked up by the Senate Banking Committee on April 29.

"We want to make it clear to the Senate Banking Committee that communities across the country are concerned that the Johnson-Crapo housing finance reform legislation does not do enough to ensure access for all communities," said NCRC's President and CEO John Taylor. "In its current form, this bill falls short for working people, and particularly communities of color, Millennials, and low- and moderate-income communities."

The text of the letter is below. A summary of NCRC's access concerns regarding Johnson-Crapo and proposed solutions can be found here. NCRC's recent statements and policy papers on housing finance reform can be found here.

Housing finance reform must ensure access to mortgage credit for all creditworthy borrowers and affordable rental housing for renters of all incomes. While the proposal you have set forth takes important steps toward achieving that goal, the undersigned organizations have very serious concerns that the legislation in its current form would harm the ability of working families to access credit.

We are encouraged that the Johnson-Crapo proposal includes an incentive mechanism to reward institutions that provide access to conventional mortgage credit in underserved communities, but we are concerned that the proposal falls short in a number of crucial ways. In order for the proposal to create a housing finance system that ensures broad access, the following concerns with the Johnson-Crapo bill must be addressed:

Identify Communities of Color as a Traditionally Underserved Market Segment. Johnson-Crapo fails to identify communities of color as a traditionally underserved market segment despite the long-standing history of difficulty that minority neighborhoods have experienced in obtaining access to conventional mortgage credit.

Remove the Unnecessary and Harmful Down Payment Requirements. Down payment requirements have consistently been proven to restrict the ability of communities of color, millennials, and low- and moderate-income borrowers to access mortgage credit, and should be removed from this legislation.

Require All Market Participants to Provide Fair Credit Access. Johnson-Crapo does not contain any language explicitly requiring institutions that benefit from the government guarantee or securitization platform to provide fair access for all creditworthy borrowers.

Eliminate the Ability to "Opt Out" of Serving Communities. Secondary market entities can choose to opt out of the incentive-based affordable housing access mechanism, undermining its ability to drive competition between actors in the market to meet unmet housing needs.

Ensure Existing Anti-Discrimination Laws are Not Harmed. When it comes to serving traditionally underserved communities, Johnson-Crapo prohibits the regulator from interfering with an institution's business decisions on a loan level. This is problematic not only because it may deprive the regulator of the ability to enforce existing anti-discrimination laws with the entities it is required to regulate, but also because it may weaken the ability of discrimination victims to protect themselves.

Maintain and Protect Support for Affordable Housing. The regulator is allowed to temporarily suspend contributions to the National Housing Trust Fund, the Capital Magnet Fund, and the Market Access Fund in times of market instability. These funds are meant to serve communities in need, and suspending contributions during times of crisis will further hurt populations that are already most vulnerable.

As Congress evaluates proposals for reforming or replacing GSEs, we ask that you press for the creation of a secondary-market system that will increase access to affordable homeownership and rental housing opportunities for all Americans. Any reforms to the secondary market must include a strong, enforceable access mechanism that guarantees that creditworthy first-time homebuyers, low- and moderate-income families, and communities of color will have the opportunity to build wealth over generations by securing safe, affordable mortgage credit.

The undersigned organizations urge you to support changes to the current proposals that address the above concerns and create a strong, mandatory access mechanism. American families need yourleadership to ensure that reforms to the housing finance system support the ability of all hardworking, creditworthy borrowers and renters to access affordable housing.

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition is an association of more than 600 community-based organizations that promote access to basic banking services, including credit and savings, to create and sustain affordable housing, job development and vibrant communities for America’s working families.